More on Petraeus

The New York Times notes that Petraeus oversaw the drafting of the military's new counterinsurgency manual and describes him as being squarely in the camp of officers that have "argued for sending more troops [to Iraq] while stepping up economic efforts, the better to apply the military’s new counterinsurgency doctrine."

This camp, the NY Times reports, argues that "progress in stabilizing Iraq...will come only when the Iraqi public does not feel that it needs militias or insurgent groups to ensure its security, and when it concludes that its basic economic needs are being met.

"Training and advising the Iraqi forces should continue to be an important priority, these officers have argued," says the Times, "but the Iraqis cannot be expected to shoulder the brunt of the security effort so quickly."

The Times contrasts Petraeus' view with that of current military leadership who he is slated to replace. According to the Times, the current leadership has operated on the belief that Iraqis need to assume responsibility for their own security and the faster this happens the better. More additional U.S. forces, in their view, would just delay that day.

See US Military Counterinsurgency Manual, June 2006